Skip to main content

SC Dismisses Centre’s Appeal Against Treating Children Born Out Of Void Marriages As Legitimate

In UNION OF INDIA & ORS. vs M. KARUMBAYEE, the Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal filed by the Govt. and upheld the Madras High Court Judgment which had held that children born out of void marriages are legitimate.

The matter relates to the appointment on compassionate grounds in Southern Railway, of  a deceased employee’s son, born to his second wife, as he did not have any issue from his first wife. The Southern Railway rejected the claim for appointment on the ground that children born to second wife were not recognised and second wife was not entitled to any benefits, as per the instructions of the Railway Board.   According to the Railway Board’s Circulated, dated 2.1.1992, appointment on compassionate ground, cannot be granted to the children born to second wife.

The Madras Bench of the CAT rejected the Railway’s contention on the basis of the judgment rendered by the Division Bench of the Kolkata High Court in the case of Smt.Namita Goldar and another v Union of India and others.

The Supreme Court too, in the case of Rameshwari Devi v State of Bihar, [2000(2) SCC 431) had held that the second marriage during the subsistence of first marriage may be illegal, but the children born out of such second marriage are legitimate and are also entitled to the estate of the father. It is because under Section 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act, children of a void marriage are legitimate.

Article referred: http://www.livelaw.in/sc-dismisses-centres-appeal-treating-children-born-void-marriages-legitimate-read-order/

Comments

Most viewed this month

The recovery of vehicles by the financier not an offence - SC

Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 8907  of 2009 Anup Sarmah (Petitioner) Vs Bhola Nath Sharma & Ors.(Respondents) The petitioner submitted that  respondents-financer had forcibly taken away the vehicle financed by them and  illegally deprived the petitioner from its lawful possession  and  thus,  committed  a crime. The complaint filed by the petitioner had been  entertained  by  the Judicial Magistrate (Ist Class), Gauhati (Assam) in Complaint Case  No.  608 of 2009, even directing the interim custody of the vehicle (Maruti  Zen)  be given to the petitioner vide order dated  17.3.2009.  The respondent on approaching the Guwahati High  Court against this order, the hon'ble court squashed the criminal  proceedings  pending   before  the  learned Magistrate. After hearing both sides, the Hon'ble Supreme Court decided on 30th...

Court approached in the early stages of arbitration will prevail in all other subsequent proceedings

In National Highway Authority of India v. Hindustan Steelworks Construction Limited, the Hon'ble Delhi High Court opined that once the parties have approached a certain court for relief under Act at earlier stages of disputes then it is same court that, parties must return to for all other subsequent proceedings. Language of Section 42 of Act is categorical and brooks no exception. In fact, the language used has the effect of jurisdiction of all courts since it states that once an application has been made in Part I of the Act then ―that Court alone shall have jurisdiction over arbitral proceedings and all subsequent applications arising out of that agreement and arbitral proceedings shall be made in that Court and in no other Court. Court holds that NHAI in present case cannot take advantage of Section 14 of the Limitation Act, 1963 for explaining inordinate delay in filing present petition under Section 34 of this Act in this Court.

Procedure to be followed on admissibility of additional evidence at appeal stage

In The Corporation of Madras vs M. Parthasarathy & Ors., the trial court had allowed the respondent company to file evidence in the form of photocopies and had dismissed all the four suits filed by the respondents with costs as the evidence were in the form of photocopies and were objected to by the respondents. On appeal the Additional District Judge allowed the respondents to file additional evidence in the form the original documents of the earlier admitted photocopies and based on the same allowed the appeal. In its turn the High Court also dismissed the appeal filed by the appellants who in turn approached the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court decided that the first Appellate Court committed two jurisdictional errors in allowing the appeals.  Referring to earlier judgements of the Supreme Court in Land Acquisition Officer, City Improvement Trust Board vs. H. Narayanaiah & Ors., , Shalimar Chemical Works Ltd. vs. Surendra Oil & Dal Mills (Refineri...